Best Bro
by miscellaneouselements
Summary: Alfred finds out his brother wants to die. He feels bad, thinking he has something to do with this, so he tries his best to make Matthew feel better, since he's the hero. human names used. Brotherly love
1. Chapter 1

A/N i again apoligize beforehand for any ooc and if it's bad in any way, but i am getting more confident, so hopefully i won't apoligize as much in the future. anyway, enjoy the story

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><p>I just came home from a long day of playing video games with Tony. Luckily, no one was awake to yell at me. I go upstairs as quietly as I can, but the floor creaks a bit. I see a door down the hall that's slightly open. It isn't a door I would have normally noticed, so I go over and open it, looking inside. And I freeze, shocked at what I see.<p>

There was someone laying in the bed, bleeding sorta badly. Their left arm is slung over the side of the bed, that shoulder and inner forearm bleeding. His left ear and cheek were also bleeding. In his right hand (that inner forearm is slightly bleeding as well) was a small hand gun.

I go over to him and take the gun, putting it on the bedside table. I now recognize the guy in the bed as my brother, Matthew. I immediately check for his pulse.

After a minute I'm relieved that he still has one.

"Mattie, hey Mattie wake up." I gently shake his right shoulder. "Come on, wake up."

After a few minutes of shaking his shoulder, he finally wakes up.

"What?" he sleepily asks.

"What the hell happened? Why are you bleeding so much?"

"Eh?" He looks confused for a minute before realizing he's bleeding. He grabs his blanket and tried to hide his wounds, but I grab it away from him. I sit on the bed in front of him.

"What happened dude?"

"Nothing to worry about. I just have bad aim, I guess." he mutters, picking at the bed sheets.

"Where were you aiming?"

He mutters something I can't hear, not looking at me.

"What?"

He shakes his head and mutters again.

"Mattie, what did you say?" I lift his head up so he's looking at me. I notice he's crying. "Mattie, what's wrong?"

I can't hear him, but I read his lips. 'I tried to kill myself.'

"Why in the world would you do that?"

"I-I'm all alone Al. no one cares about me. I get beat up because of you. I'm sick of it Al. I can't take it anymore. I wanna die." he says while sobbing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I gently ask.

"I tried. You never listened."

"I'm so sorry Mattie." I hold him close to me in a hug. I'm supposed to be the hero, how could I not have noticed poor Mattie was hurting? I could have, would have helped him. "I'm gonna be a better bro, I promise."

He shakes his head and cries into my shoulder.

"I will. I swear Mattie. I'll be the best brother ever. I'll make you want to live."


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing I do the next morning is go check on Matthew to make sure he's Ok I had bandaged his wounds before I went to bed last night.

I go to his room, since he's been hangin' around there often and open his door. To my surprise, I see him still sleeping. Wait, he _is_ sleeping, right? Yeah, I see him breathing. I go sit down next to him and wait until he wakes up.

A few hours later, at around one, he wakes up. He slowly sits up and jumps back when he sees me.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he asks. I ignore his question, since my attention was caught by something else: a thin cut along his chest. He must have done it after I had left and had been too tired to take his shirt off, explaining the rip there. Even though I had left after he was asleep.

"Mattie, you cut yourself. How come?" I ask, pointing to the cut.

"I was too tired to take the bandages off my arms." he tells me, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Please stop cutting yourself."

"But I t helps make the loneliness go away." he murmurs.

"From now on when you're lonely, just come to me, alright?"

He slowly nods. I smile at him.

"Are you gonna tell anyone about this?" he asks after a minute of silence.

"Are you gonna continue to cut yourself?"

"I don't know."

"Then I probably will."

He grabs my wrist and pleas, "Please don't."

"Don't cut yourself anymore."

He shakes his head.

"Then I'm gonna have ta tell someone so we can get you some help."

"They won't notice me."

"I'll _make_ them notice you Mattie."

"Really? You promise?" He looks up at me, doubt and sadness in his eyes.

"I swear."

He shakes his head. "They won't be able to help, even if they can see me."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. If you don't think they'll be able to help you, _I_ will."

"You can't." I barely hear him.

I look at him and hold his gaze. The smile I usually have is gone, replaced by a completely serious look.

"Mattie, I will bring you out of this depression, I swear it on everything I believe in. You're gonna get through this."

He looks at me with doubt, and his look makes me feel so guilty. Then, I suddenly get an idea, my smile returning.

"Get dressed, I'm gonna take ya somewhere."

"Where?" He doesn't sound that interested.

"First, to get breakfast. Then, to one of your favorite places." I get a pair of jeans and a tee and put them in front of him. "Get dressed and come downstairs. If you ain't there in five minutes, I'm commin' back up to get you." I go downstairs and wait for him on the couch.

Luckily, he comes down in a few minutes. He still looks terrible, but he has clean clothes on.

"Well, come on." I get him in my Ford and drive to this diner.

While we drive, Mattie looks out the window. I try to find a station he'll like, but I can't. I hate to see him so depressed like this. Sad and lonely, I can deal with, but seriously depressed? I get to the diner as soon as I can.

We get inside and get a booth. I get some coffee. Mattie wouldn't talk, so I just ordered him some pancakes. When we get my coffee and his pancakes, I drown his in syrup (the real kind. His, not mine), just how he likes them.

I push the pancakes over to him with a smile. "Here."

He looks over at me, glances at the food, then stares blankly back out the window.

"Mattie, come on. Ya haven't eaten since Thursday." And it's true. He hadn't eaten a single bite of anything for two days, and it worries me.

He shakes his head.

"Mattie, eat. Please. Don't starve yourself. _Please_." He just blankly looks at me for a minute. I sigh. "We're not leaving 'til you eat that."

He slowly starts eating. He has the same expression, and I'm not sure if he even tastes it. He doesn't even acknowledge that it's the right syrup. So, I don't stop worrying.

When he eventually finished, and I paid (with a slightly bigger tip for dealing with a depressed teen), we left.

Once I started my Ford and we had been driving for a minute, I glance over at Mattie, looking depressed as ever.

"Hey Mattie, I know you love hockey, and I heard there was a game today, so I'm gonna take you to it. How's that sound?" I was gonna make it a surprise, but maybe knowing this would cheer him up.

He shakes his head.

"Y-you don't wanna go to a hockey game?" Now I was even more worried. Mattie doesn't wanna go see a hockey match? That's impossible.

He shakes his head yet again.

I clutch the wheel and drive back home. I can think of one last place to take Mattie.

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><p>AN yeah, i suppose i could have stopped at the first chapter, but i couldn't. anyway, thanks for taking the time to actually read my story, it's appreciated


	3. Chapter 3

Once we get home, I get Mattie a suitcase.

"Pack that for a week." I tell him before I go and pack a bag of my own.

When I finish packing, I take out my phone and text dad.

**Me: im takin mattie 2 canada. b back in a week.**

He'll yell at me for messin' up his precious language, but I could care less, especially now.

I throw my bag down the stairs and go to Mattie's room. He hasn't packed a thing yet. Instead, he's sitting on his bed holding his stuffed polar bear.

I sigh and pack some stuff for him

"Ya know, you should be excited." I tell him while packing.

"Why?" It's so soft and quiet, I barely hear him.

"I'm takin' you home."

"Isn't this 'home'?"

I finish packing his bag.

"_Your_ home Mattie." I take his arm, since he's still holding his polar bear and suitcase and bring them downstairs. I grab my bag and go outside. Mattie gets in the passenger's side. I put the bags in the bed of my truck and get a text.

**Dad: You're ruining my language.**

** Me: ya i no**

** Dad: Why are you taking your brother to Canada?**

** Me: ta make him undepressed**

** Dad: If he's upset, bring him to a hockey game.**

** Me: he dont wanna**

** Dad: Make sure you ARE back in a week then.**

** Me: we will b**

I get in the truck and put in a CD I found in Mattie's room. Luckily, we don't live far from Canada, so the trip won't be that long. Mattie stares blankly out the window the whole time. His expression doesn't even change when we cross the border. I drive down to the cabin we own by forest. We get there in a few minutes.

"Mattie come on, cheer up. We're in Canada now." He doesn't show any reaction to this. "Well, let's get inside." He slowly nods and gets out of the truck. I grab our bags and bring them inside after him.

He's sitting on the sofa, still holding his polar bear. I leave the bags by the front door and sit next to him.

"Mattie, you're gonna be ok. You really are."

He shakes his head and looks at the ground. I rub his back. He just holds Kumajirou closer and I notice he has tears in his eyes.

Seeing him all sad is really starting to bum me out. I want to see him smile again. I haven't seen him smile since…since… I don't remember the last time he's smiled. I look over at him.

"Mattie, could you smile? Even for just a second?"

He doesn't even turn to look at me and says, "What's there to smile about? I was only noticed by you by a mistake most likely. When you're invisible for so long, smiling is pointless."

"Who are you?" Kumajirou looks up at him and asks him.

"I'm Canada." he weakly says.

"Who?"

"Your owner."

Kumajirou seems satisfied with that, since he doesn't ask 'who?' again.

"Does he ask that a lot?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe it's his fault you're depressed." It must be. If he's always asking who Mattie is, that must make him feel invisible.

But Mattie shakes his head. "At least Kumajaret knows I'm here, knows I exist."

"Mattie, I know you exist too."

"Not last week."

"I already feel guilty enough. It was an accident."

"It always is." He gets up.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Hm? To go sleep."

I look at the time on the TV. It's evening, not late, but if Mattie wants to sleep, I'll let him. "OK." I tell him, but he's already left to a bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Mattie sleeps late again. He wakes up around an hour after I do. He slowly comes over to the sofa and sits down.

"Hey Mattie." I say with my smile. He just gloomily looks over at me, then forward again.

"Hey, I rented a rink for the day." No reaction. "And I brought some hockey sticks, skates, and a puck." Still no reaction. "We're going in a half hour. Get ready."

A half hour later we got into my truck, Mattie being half forced, and I drove to the small rink. It only takes a few minutes of agonizing silence to get there.

I drag Mattie into the place and hand him his skates. I go back to get the rest of the stuff. As I walk back inside, I see what a stupid idea that had been. I sighed, seeing his inner forearm bleeding and the blade of his skate bloody. I drop the stuff and take the skate from him. I go get some stuff to clean his wound and some bandages. I clean his cut and bandage it.

"Mattie, I thought I told you not to cut yourself."

"Why'd you bring me here?" he mutters.

"You like hockey. It's _your_ game. And we're in _your_ home." I smile at him. "So cheer up."

He just mumbles something. I give him a hug.

"Please Mattie. Be better."

He shakes his head, and mutters "It's too late."

"No! Don't say that. It's not too late Mattie. It's not. You're gonna be Ok. You _are_. Just don't give up. Please, don't."

We're both crying. I try to stay strong and not, but I'm just so worried for him. He needs to be better, he needs to believe he'll be better.

After a few minutes, I pull back from the hug.

"You're gonna be Ok. Don't you think otherwise."

He slowly nods. "You're going to help me?" he quietly asks, looking up at me.

I gently smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna help you. It's my number one priority. And being the hero, I'm gonna make sure everything's OK and that you're happy."

"Th-thank you."

"You're welcome."

He wipes some tears from his eyes and looks around a bit. "Why do you care all of a sudden?"

"Hm? 'Cuz your my brother. I don't want anything to happen to you. I realized I've failed, but now I need to make it up to you. Make everything up."

"I'm glad you're trying."

"So I didn't rent this place out for nothin'. Come on." I take my shoes off and replace them with skates. He does the same and we get on the ice and I grab the hockey sticks. I give him his.

We play for a while and I end up winning. It's surprising because I wasn't trying _at all_. It was usually a really close match when I had occasionally played before.

We're sitting back where we were. I had my shoes back on. Mattie was taking longer to put his back on.

I take out my phone again.

**Me: hey what does mattie like? what movies?**

A minute later, I get a reply.

**Papa: Where did u take Mathieu?**

** Me: canada**

** Papa: Ok. Nature documentary? Comedy? I'm not quite sure.**

** Me: thnx**

I put my phone back in my pocket. Mattie has his shoes back on. I stand and pull him up. I get him and everything else in my truck and drive to a restaurant we went to when we were here last came here. Mattie's the one who pointed it out to us last time. It was a few years ago, so I hope he still likes it.

We get there, have dinner with little talk, I rent a movie, and we go back to the cabin.

I make some popcorn and get the movie in. I turn the movie on and it really just serves as noise. Mattie is looking at the TV, but I can tell he's not watching it. And I'm too worried about Mattie to really watch it.

About halfway through it, Mattie falls asleep. I notice after a few minutes. I lay him down on the couch and put a blanket over him. I turn the movie off and sit in a chair. I start to fall asleep and I notice something moving in the room. I see it's only Kumajirou, so I relax. He lays down and puts his head on Mattie's arm. He winces, but otherwise doesn't do anything. I fall asleep a few minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

I have a terrible dream that night.

I was chasing Mattie through a forest. I lost him a few times, but the trail of blood led me to him. I eventually found him at the edge of a cliff. I grab him and push him the ground, pinning him down, before he jumps.

"Mattie, why the hell? Why are you doing this? I brought you here to help you!" It sounded like I was crying.

"I'm ignored. Everyone hates me. No one likes me. I'm sick of it. I'm not loved; I'm not wanted; I'm not needed. Just let me die!" he sobbed.

"No! You're not gonna die!"

He suddenly had a surge of strength and pushed me off him. He glanced at me and the last thing I see of him are his sad, violet eyes, looking at me for the last time.

He jumps off the edge.

"NO!"

"-OOO!"

I wake up to see Mattie staring at me, confused. Mattie. Sitting there. Breathing. _Alive_.

"You could have set an alarm." he quietly mutters.

"Mattie!" I get up from the chair and tackle him down in a hug. "Please don't kill yourself! I love you bro!"

He seems shocked at this. "Wh-what? You mean it?"

"Of course Mattie. You're my brother. And dad and papa love you too. We don't say it, but we do."

He returns the hug.

"That's all I ever wanted." he sobs. "To be loved and appreciated."

"You are Mattie." I hear myself softly sobbing. "I'm so sorry I ignored you. I shouldn't've. I should've included you in more things, I shoulda listened ta you, I shoulda-"

"I know you're sorry Al. thanks for telling me. It really means a lot."

And then he smiles. And it's a real one.

I know he's coming out of his depression, and I know everything's gonna be OK. I'm gonna get him the proper help, and I'm gonna help him. He won't be ignored anymore. He's gonna be alright, and he's gonna know what it's like to be happy.


End file.
